The Los Angeles Dodgers made a surprising, but not all that difficult to understand, decision to designate Austin Barnes for assignment on Wednesday.
In a corresponding move, the Dodgers called up their top prospect in Dalton Rushing.
From a pure talent standpoint, the reasoning behind the organization’s decision is clear. Rushing has been knocking at the door since last season, and looked even better at the plate in 2025. He hit .308/.424/.514 with five doubles and five home runs in 107 at-bats for Triple-A Oklahoma City before the promotion.
Barnes was in the midst of his 11th season with the Dodgers, but Rushing’s performance this season forced their hand to give the 24-year-old a chance to get his feet wet and show what he can do in the Majors.
“This was certainly a tough conversation. Austin is a Dodger for life. He helped us win the championship, caught the last pitch in 2020 in the World Series, and he’s done a lot of great things in the community for the Dodgers, for myself personally,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
“I just think that for us right now, with what Dalton Rushing is doing on the performance side, it’s an opportunity to challenge him, expand his growth, give him an opportunity to log some Major League games and essentially give him some runway.”
Even with a slide in offensive production and Rushing’s continued rise through the farm system, there were many reasons Barnes stuck around with the Dodgers. He was the organization’s longest-tenured position player, which now goes to Chris Taylor, who is in his 10th season with the Dodgers.
“Austin is a guy that’s far beyond the numbers. He’s a glue guy. He’s a guy that there’s a lot of banter, he held guys accountable, he was tough,” Roberts said. “He had a very innate ability to get big hits, and he was respected across the board.
“And so when you lose a presence like that, there’s always kind of pause, I guess. But when we bring in a talent like Dalton and the way he’s performed, we feel good about the culture we have already in place. But how Austin has impacted our pitching staff, that’s going to continue to go on.”
Austin Barnes’ career highlights with Dodgers
Barnes was a member of two Dodgers teams that won the World Series during his career. Notably, he contributed a .320/.393/.440 slash line during the Dodgers’ 2020 postseason run, including a home run in Game 3 of the World Series.
Barnes also got the Dodgers’ first hit off Blake Snell during Game 6 and was behind the plate to catch the final out against the Tampa Bay Rays.
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